Obama Announces New Support for STEM Education

Administration and Private Sector Announce over $100 Million in Commitments and Additional Steps to Prepare 100,000 New Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Teachers

Today, President Obama will host the second White House Science Fair celebrating the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country. The President will also announce key additional steps that the Administration and its partners are taking to prepare 100,000 effective math and science teachers and to meet the urgent need to train one million additional STEM graduates over the next decade.

“When students excel in math and science, they help America compete for the jobs and industries of the future,” said President Obama. “That’s why I’m proud to celebrate outstanding students at the White House Science Fair, and to announce new steps my Administration and its partners are taking to help more young people succeed in these critical subjects.”

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• A priority on undergraduate STEM education reform in the President’s upcoming budget: The President will announce more than $100 million in investment by the National Science Foundation to improved undergraduate STEM education practices through its programs such as Widening Implementation and Demonstration of Evidence-based Reforms (WIDER), Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (TUES), and programs that impact community colleges and minority-serving institutions. This will support the development, identification and scale-up of educational practices that increase the number of STEM graduates and the quality of their preparation. In addition, the Department of Education’s proposed First in the World competition will include a STEM priority.